A View from Calico Jack’s – 12/20/2007

But, unfortunately, you can. You can count on the Bills not making the playoffs again this year.

This year feels a little different to me, though. We’ve all heard it before, but finally, the Bills might be reaching a turning point for the better.

For one, the team isn’t wretched, even though its victories are mainly against less-than-stellar opposition (so far). Special teams remain strong. The defense is young and aggressive (albeit with a few holes). We have stud running backs. We might finally – finally – have a QB in place. We’ll be ridding ourselves of an offensive coordinator I never liked. We have a decent amount of cap money and a steady hand at head coach. All eight home games sold out this year, unlike the 2006 season.

Perhaps above all, we have guys who overcame a tremendous amount of adversity together. I really believe that counts for something, even in a league where guys don’t always get to play together for too long. A lot of these guys should be around the Bills for a while.

It might sound odd for me to be so upbeat after a shutout loss. Clearly, Edwards and some of the other warm-weather boys need to learn how to play in the snow and cold. But, the truth is, the Bills aren’t really a playoff-type team yet. And it isn’t like the Browns lit them up for 30.

I’m also upbeat because Jim Kelly is publicly indicating he knows something we don’t – that there’s a plan in place to keep the Bills where they belong, in Western New York.

Finally, I was really happy to see the huge crowd at Calico Jack’s for the Browns game. I know McFadden’s was nuts, as always.

I know the Giants game might cause a lot of you to watch the game at home (or even at the Stadium, if you’re traveling to WNY for Christmas). Let’s all get together one more time for the Eagles game…and look forward to a brighter 2008.